•How They Make Millions Every Week
Currently in the North, precisely in the major cities of Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Borno, big celebrity weddings take place every day.
There is hardly a weekend that a wedding ceremony will not take place. The rate at which weddings are held in the North now is very huge and everyone witnessed one of the biggest weddings, which shut down Abuja a few weeks back. It was the Yar’Adua wedding. It was a wedding which had many top personalities in attendance. It was big in all ramifications and millions was spent to make the party a success.
Northern weddings are always beautiful and vibrant and they are now very luxurious because it is usually between the children of rich men up North.
The extravagances of weddings are always second to none and they always leave no stone unturned to make the party a statement of class. Many of weddings parade top professional vendors who put them together. From the venue, cake, outfits, MC, food, music, security, make-up, and decorations, they go for the best.
We have seen big weddings like the Buharis, Indimis, Dangotes, Shagaris, Marwa’s, Tofas, and Babaganas children’s weddings which lit up the social space in Abuja and Kano respectively.
Any vendor, who participated in all these huge weddings has surely propped the profile for his or her business and not only that, it comes with a fat pay.
The vendors are always well catered for and handsomely paid for their services because all the bigwigs who hold these weddings for their children spare no cost to make them grand.
To say that the wedding planning and décors of many of these weddings stand out is like stating the obvious. They always wow guests with their superb decor. From the planning stage to execution, they always put attention to detail. At all these parties, there are always up to 15 event vendors, who play huge roles and work back-to-back from one wedding to the other.
Give it to the number one event planner in Nigeria, Zapphaire Events, led by Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, they fly her everywhere in the country. She plans most of the big weddings up North.
Close to 20 years as a pioneer event planner has earned Funke Bucknor-Obruthe a place among Nigeria’s industry leaders and innovators. Zapphaire Events is Funke’s flagship for event planning, management and consulting. It is borne out of her passion for planning events.
Mrs Bucknor-Obruthe’s passion for planning comes through in everything she does and that is why she has remained number one in the event planning business.
Any party without décor surely makes the event look dull. The beautiful and out-of-this-world décors at all the venues we are mostly done by the wedding guru boss, Christine Ogbeh, who is currently the biggest decorating company in Abuja. She has handled many high-profile jobs. Many celebrities rush to her for decoration and she has also won the hearts of many clients as they seek her services outside the country.
What of photography? We have a handful of them. George Okoro is an Abuja -based photographer who studied at the New York Institute of Photography. The Abuja-based photographer was given the title Sarkin Masuhoton Galadiman Zazzau (it means – King of Photographers Zazzau) because of his hardwork in Abuja and in the North, as a whole. He is currently one of the big fishes in the north. The banker-turned-photographer’s forte includes wedding and pre-wedding photo shoots, landscape photography and video, and photo coverage of events.
What is a wedding without an outfit? The doyen in the fashion business, Deola Sagoe, has gained international popularity for her lively, and colourful designs. She handles most of the wedding engagement outfits of brides. The outfit is popularly known as Komole.
Her fashion design credentials took a huge leap when she won the MNET Anglo Gold African Design Award. For the past year, she has churned out beautiful and unique wedding dresses, which are simply for the elite.
Deola uniquely showcases contemporary fashion. Her designs have been embraced in foreign and domestic quarters. Deola is well-known for her uncanny attention to detail, her expert handling of a diverse range of fabrics, as well as her exemplary understanding of the African woman’s body. Among her many innovations is “Komole”, her authentic answer to every African’s yearning for an original interpretation and crafting of lace. No wonder all the brides now wear House of Deola for their wedding.
Mai Atafo is another great designer many brides in the north patronise. He makes beautiful wedding dresses.
Banke Meshida-Lawal is the boss at BMPRO, which is probably one of the biggest brands in her line of business. She’s the make-up artist on speed dial to the celebrities and stars, as she doesn’t come cheap at all. Banke Meshida-Lawal continues to be a force to reckon with in the Nigerian beauty industry. She is mostly the brain behind the beautiful make-up of the brides and their mothers. Many brides in the North always seek her expertise.
Not only does popular Abuja photographer, Big H has many fans, but Big H is also one of the first names you hear in Abuja when you ask for good photographers. He is a Fashion, Beauty, and Portrait photographer and his works are bold, smooth and classy. His work brightens up your day and brings a smile to your face. He is always one of the official photographers for any wedding.
Also,, Artillary Studio is on this list. Recall he was very visible at Gov. Ganduje and Aliko Dangote’s daughters’ wedding years back, where he churned out beautiful and award-winning photos from the weddings.
The biggest Hausa decorator in the north, Mairo Abdullahi, from Zaria, Kaduna State, is a traditional ‘Kamu’ decoration specialist, widely known in many towns and cities in Northern Nigeria. She is exceptionally creative and innovative, and her decoration stands out.
Mairo makes use of different traditional Arewa artefacts and combines them with contemporary wedding decors to produce refreshing designs. For guests who attended Gov. Ganduje and Aliko Dangote’s daughters’ weddings and many other big weddings up north, they surely could tell how wonderful the ‘Kamu’ traditional décor she did turn out. An iron lady, Mairo’s business is inspired by her desire to revive some of the cultural practices of Arewa. Mairo is a self-taught decorator, but her passion for Arewa culture and sheer creativity make her work stand out from the clutter. Mairo is the most sought-after ‘Kamu’ decorator because her work is always a delight to see, and keeps people talking about her creativity.
Mamza Beauty will always be on the list. The celebrity make-up artist from the North is well sought-after. She has handled over 50 faces of rich celebrity brides and still counting.
An invitation card sets the tone for every special event (wedding, birthday, corporate launch, or programme) and for over 20 years, The Wedding Store (TWS) has consistently delivered good quality stationery with a high degree of personal service.
TWS has been a leading brand for setting the standard for great invitation cards, proudly made in Nigeria, that perfectly captures the style and achievable expectations and when guests get their invites for these big weddings, they knew they could only come from one store in Nigeria, TWS. For big weddings up north, she is the most sought after.
Popular Lagos band, Veentage band is also doing very well. The Lagos-based band has been flown to these cities for these big weddings time and time again.
One event venue which is very popular and used by big shots up north is the Blue Velvet Marquee. They are a top event venue and decorating company mostly used by many brides for their weddings.
There are also other event vendors who are in high demand in Abuja. Amongst them are Exquisite Luxury Events which planned Yar’Adua’s wedding recently. Another Make-up artist who is doing well in Abuja is Mamza Beauty. She is the most used celebrity make-up artist in the north. She is a Northerner and many of the brides use her. What is an event without music and a DJ? Currently topping the list is DJ Gatsby. He is very popular with most weddings in the North.
What about the event MC? One popular MC who loves what she does is Mc Sophie. The pretty lady is well-loved by rich northern kids. They use her for their weddings. Not only famous for her MC job, but she is also very good as a hype woman. She is a great event host, consultant, talk-show host, and voice-over personality based in Kano. On this list are also popular event planners like J-bass Events and Enchanted Events by Ugochi Nwachukwu, they have been seen handling major events up north.
What of the pretty celebrity designers behind the most beautiful reception looks of brides? They are Veekeejames, Tubobereni, and Beccastitches.
They transform brides into angelic beings in their reception dresses.
Hair and gele stylists are on this list as well. We have the likes of Segun Gele, Taiwo’s Touch, Abydouz Gele, Ife Gele, and many more while we have Bernardsmile, Hairbysleame, and Ferdinand Hair in the hair sector.
– TAYO OYEDIJI
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